BYU Steel Bridge Takes First Place at Rocky Mountain Conference

For the second year in a row, the BYU Steel Bridge team took first place at the annual Rocky Mountain Conference. The conference was held at Utah State University on April 4-6, where BYU went head-to-head with teams from Utah State, the University of Utah, as well as teams from Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming. Bridges were scored based on weight, construction time, and stiffness. BYU dominated on construction time and stiffness, assembling the bridge in just over 5 minutes and having just 0.6 inches of deflection under the 2500 lbs of load. The building crew was: Bryce Anderson, Jonathon Archer, John Cazier, Jacob Linford, Kahler Nield, and Derrick Turner.

At the end of May the BYU Steel Bridge team competed in the National Steel Bridge Competition held in Seattle. Of the 220 teams that had participated in regional competitions, 49 teams were invited to the University of Washington campus to determine the 2013 national champion. Presentation judging occurred on Friday, with the timed-construction, weighing, and load testing on Saturday. BYU came in 19th overall, 13th in stiffness and 10th in construction time. The building crew at nationals was: Jonathon Archer, Jeff Buxton, Jacob Linford, Ryan Moore, Taylor Nordquist, and Derrick Turner.

The department and especially the students on the team are very grateful to generous sponsors who made it possible for the team to participate at the national competition. Thanks to: AISC, Triple S Steel, 4D Engineers, Dudley & Associates, RB&G Engineering, Applied Geotech, Kiewit, and Greg Wilson. The team is looking forward to continued improvement and competing at the national competition in Akron, Ohio next year.